On Valentine’s Day, the Council for Health and Development is one with all Filipino health workers in calling out the Philippine government for what the Alliance of Health Workers dub as “continued and outright negligence to their safety, protection, rights and welfare by implementing inhumane and anti-health workers’ policies.”

Despite the same risks that our health workers face everyday, they are not seen as equals by the government in terms of the provision of equal benefits. Health workers who are job order or contract of service face the same hazards of COVID-19 but do not receive special risk allowance, meals and transportation allowance, and other benefits. They work in precarious conditions but without employee-employer relation.

Lest we forget, there will be no health care system without health workers. In order to address the fundamental problems of our health system, we must also address the problems of our health workers.

Council for Health and Development is in solidarity with all Filipino health workers and the Alliance of Health Workers in their calls:

1. No to One COVID-19 Allowance/Health Emergency Allowance! No to Risk Classification;

2. One COVID-19 Allowance: Pambabarat, Hindi Makatarungan, Ibasura;

3. Retain SRA, AHDP and MAT Benefits;

4. Mass hiring of permanent health workers;

5. No to shortened isolation and quarantine protocol for health workers;

6. Yes to 14 days isolation and quarantine protocol for all health workers;

7. Provide free, sufficient and quality PPE;

8. Free and mandatory RT-PCR testing every 14 days to all health workers;

9. Provide P15,000/month (fixed, not prorated) Special Risk Allowance to all health workers;

10. Provide P5,000/month (fixed, not prorated) Active Hazard Duty Pay to all health workers;

11. Provide P38,000/month Meal, Accommodation and Transportation Allowance to all health workers;

12. Provide COVID-19 compensation to all health workers in every COVID-19 infection: P100,000 for severe cases, P50,000 for mild and moderate cases;

13. Provide P1-million for health workers who died due to COVID-19;

14. Provide free medical-related expenses to non-hospitalized health workers infected with COVID-19;

15. Provide continuous COVID-19 benefits and compensation to all health workers during pandemic or state of national emergency. ##